On New Year's Eve, the Xu family had their New Year's Eve dinner very early.
An old saying goes that you should eat on New Year's Eve and sleep on the Winter Solstice.
The New Year's Eve dinner is the most sumptuous meal of the year, featuring meat, fish, shrimp, and other delicacies that are usually reserved for the occasion, along with various pastries.
The children were already squatting at the kitchen doorway, unable to move.
Mu Jingshu nudged Xu Laosan with his elbow: "Big brother, it smells so good!"
Xu Laosan: "How can a feast of fish and meat not be delicious?"
Xu Zeyu: "I have never seen so much delicious food."
This was Xu Zeyu's first time celebrating the Lunar New Year with his grandparents, uncles, and other extended family. In previous years, when Niu Zhaodi was alive, she would at most cook one extra plate of braised fish on New Year's Eve, but it was only enough for them to look at; they would eat almost the same as usual, just with an extra handful of rice. This plate of fish would be kept until after the Lantern Festival, and it absolutely could not be touched unless the Niu family came.
Xu Zeyu used to think that other families were like this, but judging from the reactions of Xu Laosan and Mu Jingheng, that was not the case.
Even now, Xu Zeyu is still grateful for his parents' divorce. If his father hadn't divorced his mother, he doesn't know when this miserable life of being bullied would have ended.
Xu Zelei: "I still prefer the pork cracklings that the older sister gave us in the afternoon. Just thinking about them makes my mouth water."
In the afternoon, we were rendering lard at home. Xu Xinning did the work, and the younger children watched eagerly. To get closer to the lard residue, they all crowded around the stove to help stoke the fire.
Seeing that the children were drooling, Xu Xinning ladled out a bowl and gave them sugar and salt to add as they pleased.
The children were overjoyed and ate until they were full.
But Xu Xinning couldn't let them eat too much, otherwise they wouldn't be able to finish such a good dinner.
Those that are hanging on are always restless, which is why Xu Zelei sighed.
Xu Zexin: "Don't you want to eat all that delicious food tonight?"
Xu Zelei: "How could that be? My belly is huge. I'm not bragging, but even if I ate all this food, my stomach could still hold it all."
Everyone who heard it laughed.
Kids these days really can eat a lot. Isn't there a saying that a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home? This is no joke. Plus, there are so many kids these days. If you let them eat whatever they want every day, it would really drive you crazy.
This year, apart from Xu Zexi not being able to come back, the family was all there. Mu Jingheng and Xu Mingyang even bought a lot of firecrackers. Originally, there was a quota for these, but most families were reluctant to buy them, so the two of them exchanged tickets with someone and bought a lot more.
With a large family and several weddings planned—Xu Mingyang and Kuang Meizhu getting married in the first month of the lunar calendar, and Mu Jingheng and Xu Xinning getting married on the second day of the second month—we need to stock up on firecrackers.
Before dinner, Mu Jingheng and Xu Mingyang led a group of kids to set off firecrackers.
As soon as the children heard that they were going to set off firecrackers, they all rushed out in a swarm.
For children, the Lunar New Year brings delicious food, new clothes, lucky money, and firecrackers – these are moments of happiness they can cherish for a lifetime.
Setting off firecrackers is dangerous, so Xu Mingyang and Mu Jingheng made them a long pole with a small flame lit at the end. They arranged all the firecrackers in place, and then everyone stood far away, stretched out their hands, lit the fuses, and then everyone stepped back. The timid ones covered their ears. With two loud bangs, the children felt incredibly brave.
With the popping and crackling of firecrackers, the New Year's Eve dinner began.
Lunar New Year's Eve is an extremely important reunion dinner for Chinese people, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.
The Xu family home was brightly lit, filled with laughter, and congratulations came one after another. The smiles on the faces of Grandpa Xu and Grandma Xu never faded.
Besides the Xu family, the Chen family also celebrated this year with the Xu family.
One event after another occurred that year, further integrating the Xu and Chen families.
We're not family, but we're closer than family.
In stark contrast to the Xu family is the second branch of the Xu family.
The second wife and husband looked at the deserted courtyard, as if the lively and joyful scenes of last year were still vivid in their minds.
Thinking of Xu Yaoyang's suffering on the farm, the two old men had no appetite at all to prepare food.
However, being superstitious, the two of them still cooked a fish despite not being in the mood.
Having abundance every year is a beautiful wish, and they are afraid that if they don't do so, they will be even more unlucky in the coming year.
Bad luck?
That was really unlucky.
When did my bad luck start?
Did that woman's affair begin when it was exposed?
Yes, it all started when that woman's affair was discovered, and then their family was plagued by one misfortune after another.
In the past few months, the old man of the Xu family has aged a lot, and his back has become hunched. He always unconsciously looks towards the old Xu family house.
He never imagined that his relationship with his older brother would turn out this way.
When he was little, his older brother always spoiled him and thought of him first when it came to good things. Why is it that he doesn't do that now that he's grown up?
While the whole country was celebrating reunions, a sharp scream suddenly rang out on the farm, followed by people running and shouting, "Murder! Murder!"
"What's going on during the Lunar New Year?"
"How unlucky! How unlucky! What kind of joke is this during the Lunar New Year?"
"Who is this? What are you babbling about?"
Many men who had been drinking stormed out of the farm, followed by women who loved to gossip.
If someone committed murder, then this must be a once-in-a-millennium juicy story that you can't miss.
How could the middle-aged women, who are on the front lines of gossip, miss out on this shocking revelation?
"Murder! Murder! So much blood! So much blood!"
Someone realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately shouted, "Quick, go find the farm manager! We can't let this really happen!"
Some of the younger people who are fast runners have already rushed out.
When the group of people arrived at the row of houses on the far west side of the farm, it was already crowded with people.
The one who was injured was Xu Yaoyang. He was lying unconscious in a pool of blood. Not far from him, Shen Can sat on the ground with a strange smile on his face. He was holding a blood-stained kitchen knife and kept muttering, "It's gone, it's good that it's gone. Without you, you can't fly anymore. You are mine, you are mine."
Qi Hehua squeezed through the crowd and saw this bloody scene.
Shen Can ran out in the afternoon. She said she was going to find Xu Yaoyang and that although they weren't married, they were no different from a normal couple, so they had to be together during the Lunar New Year.
Qi Hehua knew that Xu Yaoyang had abandoned his daughter and started dating a female educated youth. She advised Shen Can to let go and find her someone better than Xu Yaoyang, but Shen Can seemed to be possessed and refused to let go.
In the afternoon, Shen Can went to find Xu Yaoyang. Qi Hehua thought it would be good for her to experience some setbacks, so that she might be able to give up on Xu Yaoyang completely. She didn't expect her to be so extreme.
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